France’s Corentin Moutet suffered a straight-set defeat versus Rafael Nadal and afterward acknowledged that the Spaniard is still a strong force in the game.
On Wednesday, 13-time French Open champion Nadal saw off Moutet 6-3 6-1 6-4 to progress into the third round at Roland Garros.
“Well, don’t worry, he’s got 21 Grand Slams in his pocket, you know, he’s still out there and he’s got nothing to prove here in Paris,” Moutet said, per Sportskeeda.
After losing the first two sets, Moutet started the third set with a 2-0 lead.
Unfortunately for Moutet, he was unable to hold on to his serve as Nadal recovered and clinched a three-set win.
“It was really intense. I had good moments, I had quite an equal game, but it was really difficult to maintain that in terms of intensity and of aggressiveness,” Moutet said. “His ball is really fast, so it was really, it was a physical match, it was not that long but it was really physical.
Moutet: My goal was to play Nadal
In the French Open first round, Moutet took out three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka.
Moutet was hoping to clinch another victory over a Grand Slam but Nadal didn’t allow the Frenchman to even come close to a surprise.
“Well, you know, I came out to win just like any match and just wanted to use my weapons and use his weaknesses, although there aren’t many, and I tried to do my best to win, but it wasn’t enough today,” Moutet said.
Nadal turns 36 next month and Moutet was glad he finally got a chance to play the Spaniard.
“Well, yeah, it’s the third time you’ve asked me the question, but, of course it was an objective for me to play against him before he retires and of course it was an objective to play against him in Roland Garros,” Moutet said.